With the departure of season one coach Ian Ferguson following the club's off-field ownership issues, Fury's new bosses are searching the globe for the right man to lead their side next season.

Jankovic has lived in Australia for a number of years and is currently based in Cairns in far-north Queensland.

He may be a coaching greenhorn but there's no doubting Jankovic's playing CV. After starring with Serbian powerhouse Red Star, he was signed for Real Madrid in the 1980s.

Jankovic is considered  one of the best Serbian players of the modern generation and would need all his experience for such a position.

Other names linked to the vacant Fury position include Frank Farina while Reds assistant Phil Stubbins, who was in the race for the position eventually won by Ferguson, might also be an option.

Whoever gets the job will have his work cut out in arguably the toughest job in the A-League.

Currently Fury's squad is in flux with the squad decimated by departures  and releases following the financial upheaval of recent times.

Marquee man Robbie Fowler is almost certainly going, probably to join Sydney FC, while defender Shane Stefanutto, striker Jeremy Brockie and midfielder Rostyn Griffiths have all moved to other A-League franchises.

Jankovic arrived in Australia as a 30 year old in 1991but not to play for an NSL side. He was looking for a beach house, family time and early retirement after the highs of playing for Red Star and at the Bernabeu. His Cairns-born wife lured him to north Queensland and he's been there for most of the last 19 years.

After rising through the ranks at Red Star Belgrade in the 1980s - a Serbian football institution - a dream move to Real Madrid was his crowning glory. After starring for Red Star in a Champions League match against the Spanish giants, they soon snapped him up.

"I wasn't one of the biggest stars in my country at the time, but I was quite lucky to play Real Madrid home and away though," he told au.fourfourtwo.com last year.

"Both games I played exceptionally well. And Beenhakker [the Real coach] needed one midfield player."

Jankovic's exit from the Yugoslav national team was the catalyst for him quitting football and ending up in Australia in the early 90s.

Jankovic holds UEFA A and B licences. He's been on the periphery of Aussie football since arriving although he's had stints at institute level.

There was a spell in the mid-90s at the AIS with Steve O'Connor and Ray Junna. And he worked in the Northern Territory as a development officer. Jankovic also spent three years in Tonga as national team coach.

"At the moment I'm looking for different options to move," he told au.fourfourtwo.com. "I'd like to coach in the A-League or even youth A-League. And I think the A-League is getting better and better.

"I think it's very comparative. Look at the Asian Champions League and I think Australian teams have been tactically dominant.

"Japan is strong because of better quality players but tactically Australia is pretty good."